Description of the flag

A dark blue tapered swallow-tail flag with the county seal on it, showing a statue holding scales, surrounded by a ring, a partial wreath of wheat heads, 13 stars, and the county name.Valentin Poposki, 2 April 2006

NAPOLEON - The new Henry County flag depicts several symbols significant to Henry County: Lady Justice, who stands high atop the county courthouse; ropes, signifying the canal along the Maumee River; wheat, representing the county's
agriculture industry; and 13 stars, one for each of the county's townships. The designer of the flag that was unveiled Sunday is 21-year-old Elliot Geno of New Bavaria. Geno is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School and a junior at Defiance College, studying multimedia communications. He is employed as a graphics designer at The Crescent-News. Out of 180 entries submitted for the Henry County flag, Geno's design won the people's choice award and was ultimately selected as the new county flag by representatives of the Henry County Historical Society and Henry County Arts Council, which sponsored the
contest.

The winning flag was unveiled Sunday afternoon at the Henry County Historical Society's Grelton museum. After hearing about the contest, Geno said, "I thought I'd give it a try." Little did he know he would end up the winner. "This will be a nice bonus to my portfolio," said Geno, whose dream is to work with computer animation. When he decided to create a design for the contest, Geno said he had an idea in mind to entwine several county symbols on a flag that is the same shape as that of the state of Ohio flag. "I had some ideas floating around in my head," he said of the project, which took a few hours to design once he sat down at his computer.

The end result: a traditional-looking flag, also representative of Henry County, which he said is traditional. Peggy Bohls, vice president of the historical society, said each of the five flag designs selected as finalists featured historical points, making the final decision a bit difficult. "I looked at all of (the flags) and then I saw (Geno's) on the wall and said, 'Wow, that is great.'" Not only was she impressed with the design, but she noticed that Geno had written an explanation on the back of his flag design for each of the symbols, something that no one else had done. Bohls was also glad to see 1820 on the flag, the date Henry County was formed. "I just think he really did an excellent job." Katie Meyers of the arts council agreed. Geno's flag "absolutely answered every question that we had. It was professional looking right from the start... and it was print-ready," which was significant since the paper copy
will need to be made into an actual flag. Meyers was also impressed with the symbolism on the flag. "Every little thing he put on the flag meant something."

Overall, Meyers said, "We were so astonished that so many people were really interested in the flag contest. Such a diverse group of people submitted designs," including people young and old, and even people new to the county. The
flag contest was held in conjunction with the state's bicentennial celebration slated for 2003. Each county was asked to send its flag to the Statehouse, to be flown as part of the celebration. The Henry County flag will also be on display
at the county courthouse in the near future.

Dov Gutterman, 16 December 2002

In conjunction with Ohio's Bicentennial celebration, a contest was held to design a Henry County flag. Citizens of all ages and backgrounds submitted designs, which were judged by representatives from the Henry County Historical Society and Henry County Arts Council. The winning flag was designed by 21-year-old Elliot Geno of New Bavaria, a student at Defiance College.

Geno started with the idea to entwine several county symbols on a flag that is the same shape as the Ohio State flag. He wanted a traditional looking flag, because he sees Henry County as traditional. The flag centers on Lady Justice, which is
a statue on top of the county courthouse. Ropes remind us of the canal along the Maumee River. Wheat symbolizes the agricultural industry. White stars represent the county's townships.

The county was established in 1820, and named for Patrick Henry of the Revolutionary War.